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Chapter 18: Playing with others.
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Aegis Group Chapter 19: Lost without her.
"TRAVIS, MAN, YOU GOTTA eat something." Ethan plopped a bag of fast food down on the hotel room desk.Travis glanced at it.He'd had burgers with Bliss yesterday. They'd talked about sex and vibrators. He hadn't cared they were in a crowded, family establishment. One day with her and now it felt as if he were missing a crucial part of himself."Not hungry," he said.Travis tossed his clothes into his suitcase and carefully gathered his files while his Aegis Group co-workers, Ethan and Mason, ate. They had their own adjoining rooms, but hadn't let him be since returning to the hotel."Where you going?" the kid, Mason, asked. He was the newest Aegis recruit, barely out of the SEALs."Don't know yet." Travis zipped the duffel bag and pulled his phone out."Where do you think he's gone?" Ethan asked."Not sure yet, but he'd have somewhere outside of Vegas to run to if he needed. Some of the bodies they identified were from as far away as Flagstaff, so we know he travels. I
Aegis Group Chapter 20: Glimpses into hell.
BLISS HUDDLED UNDER THE old, moth-eaten blankets. She'd unearthed them from the pile of discarded things in the crevices of the shelter Daniel had left her in. The wind had picked up since the sun set, and icy fingers found their way through every crack and joint in the structure.Her teeth chattered so loud she feared she might not be able to hear anything approaching. Frozen teardrops still clung to her lashes, but she didn't bother wiping them away. Instead, she gently examined the business end of a stick she'd salvaged. It wasn't old or rotten. For the last indeterminable span of time she'd worn one end down into something like a spear.She wasn't kidding herself. Even with a collection of stones and her spear wouldn't deter anything set on eating or killing her. All she had to do was hold on. If she could just hold herself together, Travis would save her. She had to believe he was out there under the same night sky looking for her, otherwise, what hope did she have?***
Aegis Group Chapter 21: One more. Just one more.
BLISS HAULED THE BUNDLE of straw and thatch over the burrow she'd made for herself out of rocks and packed snow. It was slow going. She couldn't feel her hands, and most of her clothing was either caked in ice or soaked. The handcuffs were the worst. Solid bands of freezing cold metal she couldn't escape from.One more step.One more handful of snow.One more rock.Since Daniel had scared her awake that morning, that had been her mantra. One more.Bliss had never been one for the outdoors. She liked her comfortable apartment and her cushy bed. Beyond trying to stay warm, she didn't know what else she could do. The stick spear had been her great, innovative idea, but even that was gone now, buried in the pile of rubble that had been the A-frame hut.All during the trip in the RV she'd imagined a bloody, horrible death, full of screaming and pain. Freezing hadn't been on her radar until last night. Now, even with the sun reaching its zenith, she couldn't feel her toes.Hell
Aegis Group Chapter 22: Cool-off period.
TRAVIS GLANCED AT HIS PHONE.Ryan Brooks' name flashed across the screen, and the device buzzed.Again.Travis rejected the call and pocketed the phone."The feds?" Ethan asked."Yeah. You'd guess they'd be off for the holidays or something," Travis muttered.They'd hit each ATV rental on the off chance one would be open on Christmas Eve, but no dice. Their leads were running out and Grayson wasn't accepting his calls. The forecast tonight was for more snow. Any trail they might find would be covered up, and Daniel Campbell would get away.Travis pulled into a scenic turn-off overlooking the bay and slammed his fist into the dash."Dude, it's a rental," Ethan said.Mason was passed out in the back seat. They were chasing ghosts across the mountains. They weren't going to find Bliss. Not at this rate."We're too far behind him," Travis said. He bit his thumbnail and stared out at the water."What do you want us to do?" Ethan turned toward him."In his position, w
Aegis Group Chapter 23: A monster in human clothes.
BLISS SQUEEZED HER EYES SHUT.Daniel grunted, and a wet, sloppy pop resounded through the RV."Oh, God," the man chained up on the floor next to her muttered.Don't look. Don't look."There," Daniel said in triumph.He grunted again, and something hit the floor next to her. Warm liquid splashed her hands.Bile coated the back of her throat and her head pounded."You monster, freak," the hillbilly spat. He rattled the short chain that bound him to the bench. At some point the duct tape around his boots had come undone."Monster?" Daniel parroted back."Be quiet," Bliss whispered. As long as Daniel was preoccupied with the dead guy, he wouldn't bother them. It was too late for him, but she and the other man could still survive this. Couldn't they? She had to wonder if it was worth surviving. If this was going to be her life, did she want to live it?"Freak?" Daniel's footsteps rounded the end of the table.He was just a few feet away."That's my cousin," her fello
Aegis Group Chapter 24: Bloody reunion.
A SCREAM RENT THE AIR.Travis stilled. He didn't even have to hold up his hand, everyone froze.The sound reverberated on the rocks, through the trees. It was almost impossible to tell where it came from, but he knew.That was Bliss.She was alive.For now."That way," Mason said."Wait, we don't know-""I do." Mason jabbed his finger to the south and east. Toward Cascade Lake. "I grew up tracking in the mountains. That way."Another scream, this time shorter, spurred them on.Mason took point, loping easily over the snow, kicking up a spray of white powder in his wake. Travis and Ethan flanked the kid to either side, keeping six to ten feet apart. The terrain was tricky, and the snow disguised roots and rocks that tried to trip them up.Adrenaline pushed Travis onward. His hands were near frozen, so he gripped his gun and the handle of his knife tighter."Oh my God," Bliss yelled.A man shouted incoherent words.Mason veered to their left, slowing his pace.
Aegis Group Chapter 25: Her protector.
BLISS PERCHED ON THE hospital bed, her hands gripping the thin blanket they'd given her. Her feet and fingers were still cold. No matter what anyone did, she couldn't seem to get warm.The nurse said she was still in shock, or something like that.At least the nurse had stopped talking to her and was going straight to Travis now.Travis.He'd rescued her.They hadn't said more than a dozen words to each other, but he hadn't left her side. Not for a single instant."Bliss?" Travis' hand rested on her shoulder, shaking her out of her deep well of thoughts."Hm?" She blinked at him. She'd missed something important, but for the life of her she couldn't recall what had been said."The doctor wants to keep you here to monitor you. I'd rather keep you close.""Yes," she said, cutting him off."Yes-what?""I want to stay with you."Travis meant safety. With him, there was no fear, no sense of dread. So long as he was there, everything would be okay.He's saved her.
Aegis Group Chapter 26: Safe in his arms. For now.
TRAVIS STARED AT THE map without seeing it. Every fiber of his body was acutely tuned in to the woman on the sofa.It was almost midnight. The local law enforcement were either out manning roadblocks or at home with their families, leaving the FBI, Travis, and Mason to keep watch over Bliss and formulate a plan for what came next.Some of them were keeping a little too close to her.Connor Mullins barked out a laugh at something Bliss said. Travis couldn't hear them. Not that he hadn't tried.She should be in bed, getting rest, instead of down here with the rest of them. Evidence and case details were everywhere. Why the hell were they subjecting her to this?Because she was now their best lead.Knowing the answer didn't placate him in the least.He wanted to bundle her up, lock her away, and keep her safe. But wasn't his involvement what got her here in the first place? If he'd made her stay put and gone in for Wendy on his own, Daniel would have fixated on him. Or split
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